Love is a Hole in the Heart
by Mizu no Kenshi
Summary: You have my replacement, and we have yours. SasuSaku


Eheheh…the multitude of awesome SasuSaku fanfics here has got me writing some of my own. My first time writing Naruto. Truth be told, my love of this series is more due to the great fanfics than the actual story…

Disclaimer: Most definitely does not belong to me. If it did, I'd give them some better-looking outfits. (_Seriously_, what the hell are Neji and Sasuke _wearing_?!)

First line is an anonymous quote I found.

* * *

_No matter how badly your heart is broken, the world does not stop for your grief_.

**Love is a Hole in the Heart  
**

This wasn't how it was supposed to happen.

Their dream had always been to rebuild Team Seven. They had always believed they could bring Sasuke back—that was never an issue, because they were Sakura and Naruto, and they believed.

They had always imagined reinstating him as a Konoha ninja and together they could take down Akatsuki with Team Seven reformed, because they were Sakura and Naruto, and they believed.

--_but sometimes, believing isn't enough_

They never thought he would form a team on his own.

When they met Hawk, all they felt at first was disbelief. Even now, a part of Naruto desperately believed (_because he's Naruto and he believes_) that they weren't really a team, just people that Sasuke came across and enlisted aid from; once the deed was done, they'd disperse. Even now, he couldn't truly accept that Sasuke had forsaken them for another team.

Sakura knew better.

_--hearts broken too many times become ill-fitting jigsaws, after all_

She had stopped deluding herself when Sasuke left. All her little-girl dreams and feather-light innocence had gone with him. She threw herself into her training, her goal and Naruto's merging into one _to bring him back_ and so she trained and trained and trained, hoping to forget. Hoping to live.

_--but things are never that easy, especially in matters of the heart; there are things you can never forget because if you do, it means losing a piece of yourself along with it_

Sometimes, she could even force herself into believing that she had finally moved on from him, that he was nothing more than a shred of the past, a mission objective waiting to be completed.

But in the end, she still loved him. She was just better at hiding it, even from herself.

* * *

She knew the minute she saw Hawk that they were what she and Naruto had once been to Sasuke. It was in the way they stood, so comfortable with each other, so at ease. It was in the way they fought, communicating without words. Her bitterness resurfaced with a new vengeance—she thought with mild surprise, shouldn't she be past this, shouldn't she not _feel_ anymore—as she thought back to how it should have been the three of them, how_ they_ should have been the ones who moved as one entity.

_He doesn't need you anymore—he's never needed you. He left so he could find a better team, one worthy of him_.

And it was times like these that reminded her just how much she loves him.

What hurt (_like an iron-hot poker to her bleeding heart_) was when she noticed the girl (_Karin_, she heard Sasuke call her).

The rage intensified, and so did the hurt. She never expected one of his new teammates would be a girl. What was her excuse now? He had thrown her away, only to go to another girl—a _woman_. She could obviously take her on in a fight; her strength was no match for hers. So what lie could she tell herself now?

The similarities didn't escape her, either. She—_Karin—_had the same bright hair she did, the same loyalty to him, even the clothes were nearly the same. But she also noted the differences. Karin was tall, sophisticated, fuller in the chest. She laughed bitterly. Even her hair was longer, so maybe there was some truth to that long-ago rumor after all.

_He had sought someone that could have been her, only better. So much better._

* * *

The fight had been disastrous. They hadn't wanted to go all out on their former teammate, but in the end, they had to, and even that wasn't enough.

He was no longer the Sasuke they knew.

He attacked without mercy, with no thought given to how he was about to hurt the people who had once been closest to him. But that was a time long gone, a time buried in blood and sweat and tears.

_--and the blood and tears would only increase_

The team he had gathered was no joke, either. While Karin was largely useless in fights, she made their job harder, throwing kunai and shuriken everywhere that they were forced to dodge. She was very good at being a hindrance, Sakura noted with resentment. Juugo was a monster with his strength and had easily knocked Naruto aside, even breaking his ribs on occasion. Suigetsu, with his large sword, had the advantage of range against Sakura. Belatedly, she realized the mistake she had made in fighting him; she couldn't use her strength if he kept her at bay. He was surprisingly fast, even when wielding his colossal sword.

But Team Seven had gotten stronger as well.

_--because their chase after a red and white shadow had pushed them harder_

Sasuke was the one they wanted; they had no hesitation about using their full strength against the others. In this fight, neither side would get away unscathed.

Getting over their surprise, they matched Hawk head-on. Naruto had unleashed Rasengan not long into the fight, and Juugo bore the evidence of it. Sakura had managed to land multiple hits using her monstrous strength, and Suigetsu had the broken bones to show for it. Karin had long been knocked out by Sakura, tired of her distractions. She felt a thrill of satisfaction when the woman slumped before her. Sasuke may have chosen her, but she could take joy in this, however childish it may be.

Then things began to fall apart.

The minute Sasuke stepped into the fight, all hopes of winning crumbled. They had always known he was strong, but now he was the devil in human form. With a simple flick of his hand, he sent Juugo and Suigetsu back, carrying Karin between them. This was his fight now, and everyone knew how it would end.

_--because no one could ever stand on even ground with this demon-god_

Sakura and Naruto immediately moved closer together, knowing that their only hopes of winning lay in teamwork.

Oh how wrong they had been. Sasuke was an unstoppable blur of white and black and red. His kusanagi flashed and stabbed, leaving threads of red whipping around them. Naruto was the first to fall.

Sakura tensed when she heard the tell-tale chirruping of his chidori. Glancing worriedly at its recipient, she was somewhat relieved that it had missed any critical areas, though she didn't like how the blood pooled all around him, so dark and thick.

_Everything was stained deepblackred. Red and black and red. There was no color anymore, only pain and fear and oh god— _

_--apocalypse now_

Never would she have thought that he would use that technique against them. It only showed how wrong she had been in everything.

_Dreams are not meant for the battlefield. They are not meant for little girls hiding in the form of a woman with tired pink hair and once-bright emeralds._

Too quickly for her to follow, he was behind her and she only just managed to get out of the way. The blue-gold shock of his lightening jolted her, though it missed by a hair's width. This was no time to reminiscence about their old teammate, the one who never would have dared to hurt her. It was so strange to see his face on this stranger, who was even now rushing at her, arm charged in blue chakra.

Flipping sideways, she barely managed to avoid his chidori a second time; she wasn't able to avoid his kusanagi. She gritted her teeth as it bit into her arm, ignoring the pain.

--_because that's what he does, inflict pain on her again and again_

With her good hand, she aimed a punch at his face that was easily deflected.

They danced a ballet of steel and energy, the ever-present red flicking like a puppeteer's strings.

_He's playing with me_. This angered her. It wasn't enough that he had walked out on them, insulted them time and time again. Now he was mocking their efforts, viewing their whole-heartedness as child's play.

Her strength grew as it always did when she was angry, but in the face of Sasuke's sheer power, it meant little more than prolonging the fight for a mere second or two.

It was a pleasant surprise when she got a lucky punch in; she grinned darkly as she felt bones break. There had once been a time when she would have condemned herself had she so much as scratched him. But that time was now a grain of sand in an hourglass; it had fallen through and there was no way to get it back.

He glared and hissed as he felt his ribs crack. There had been enough chances; it was time to end this. Delivering a swift kick that caught her in the stomach, he sent her crashing into a tree.

She was no match for his sudden seriousness, and even as she got up quickly, ignoring the pain and blood (oh she was getting so good at this), he was behind her once more. Her eyes widened under the pressure of the chidori, crackling menacingly behind her.

Before she could even defend herself, his arm was shooting at her.

Once again, they had failed.

Once again, he was about to walk away from them.

As darkness claimed her, she had time to realize with some surprise that when he hit her, she hadn't felt the blinding pain of his signature move; instead, she felt the firm weight of his palm, without the surrounding shock of chakra.

* * *

Sasuke stared down at the girl he had just knocked out for the second time. With no one bearing witness, he allowed his careful facade to fall as weariness and longing wormed their way into his eyes.

Truth be told, he had expected this. There was no way someone as stubborn and loyal as Sakura would let Naruto be the only one to bring him home.

She had been harder to deal with than he would have liked to admit, and only a very small part of it was due to her newfound growth.

While fighting her, he felt some his old regret creeping up, spider-webbed with hurt. Outwardly, he showed nothing other than his customary sneer, but inside he was confused. Was this really Sakura, the same girl who used to cling to him every chance she got? The one who would never dream of fighting him?

_Sakura blossoms signify the transience of life_

He didn't want to hurt her; he never did—he was always so careful in their sparring days. But she had given him no choice. She was coming at him too quickly for him to avoid hurting her. There was another reason, though he felt ashamed at it. He had hoped that if he hurt her now, she would not try to follow—he could not risk her meeting Itachi. She was strong, but he was far stronger.

Her strength was not the only thing that confused him. She had professed her love to him once, and now here she was, fighting him tooth and nail. She was serious, too. Every punch she threw, she meant for bones to break.

He didn't want to think about it, but think he did; about her promise, about her love—what if they had all been fake?

He was angry, at them, at himself.

_You promised to love me, to follow me_

_--you promised to belong to me_

He had broken his bonds, left them with nothing, all in the hopes that he could leave them behind and never look back. He may be damned to a life of blood and revenge, but that didn't mean others had to be.

After all the trouble he had gone through to ensure their hatred of him, they only came back, twice as determined, still insistent that he go back to Konoha.

He didn't need them. As genin, they had been distractions at best.

_But then why are you so angry at the thought of her not truly loving you?_

_Because you couldn't lie to yourself. _

_If you admit to loving someone, then you admit to there being something besides vengeance in you._

He had finally destroyed Orochimaru, tired of his games. He had everything he needed from the depraved man, and his hunt for Itachi was all that was left.

But before that, he required assistance. This gave birth to a new team, Team Hawk. Even now, he wasn't sure what it was that made him pick who he did

_Liar liar LIAR_

He could've picked much stronger men than Juugo, far more skilled swordsman than Suigetsu, and there were probably much better chakra trackers than Karin, and without her infatuation, too.

_You're lying to yourself again. You know very well why you picked them._

And deep down, he did.

He didn't want to think about this. Not now, not ever if he could help it. There was no more room for regret.

With a swift jerk of the head, he and his team were on the move once more. As he passed, he stared down at the remnants of his broken past and almost, _almost_ stopped.

_One glance. Just one more._

But he moved on.

There would be no looking back, because there was no more room for regret.

* * *

They met again, and this time it was just the two of them.

He made no move to attack, so neither did she.

"Where's the rest of your team, Sasuke?" she bit out angrily, voice almost cracking.

Her mark of affection was missing, and it affected him like he hoped it wouldn't.

"That's none of your business." He was deceptively calm, hand on one hip and the other dangling by his side.

Silence passed through them like acid. She shifted, suddenly defensive. "Stop doing this, Sasuke."

_Because she's Sakura and she believes_

"Stop going down this road. You heard Kakashi. There's nothing to be had, you—"

"Stop getting in my way," he hissed, cutting her off. He didn't want to see her, didn't want to talk to her. She was the one who had always been able to get under his skin and damn it why didn't she _know_ that?

That seemed to be the last straw for her and she exploded.

"What is wrong with you?!" Her eyes were flashing dangerously. "This isn't like you!"

"And how would you know?" he sneered back. It seemed that this time around, this would be a verbal battle. His comment seemed to have stunned her a bit, but she regained her fire quickly.

"…I know you don't care about us anymore. I know that you formed a team on your own. I know you gave up everything we ever worked for! I _know._ Why, Sasuke? We would've fought with you if only you had let us!"

He remained silent throughout it all. She could read all the familiar lines on his face, the ones that spoke of indifference and contempt. It tore at her.

_But she tried one more time because she's Sakura and she believes_

She tried once more to reach the little—tragicbroken_lost_—boy that lay hidden behind the avenger

_Her Sasuke_

and bring him back home to her.

"I told you I won't go back!" His voice was harsh and unforgiving, tearing apart her makeshift jigsaw of hope and redemption. "I left that place behind because it was nothing more than a hindrance. I exist to take down Itachi; nothing else matters."

She understood what he really meant. They were merely a brief tendril of his past, given faces and names but no real meaning. To him, they were nothing more than interesting toys.

Seeing the sharp crackle of pain in her emerald eyes, Sasuke tilted his head arrogantly, a sure sign of his victory. His eyes remained dead and dull, with none of the protectiveness he had once regarded her with so long ago.

She tried again

_again_

_again_

_again_

_because she is Sakura and she believes_

but he walked away before she could say anything, before she could pull him back with her heart that was so clearly written out in her eyes.

He walked away and ignored the tightening of his own heart and wondered when he had become so good at lying.

* * *

The third time they meet, it is Sasuke who is unsure.

He is with Team Hawk but Sakura is, surprisingly, alone.

"Where's your little blonde friend?" Karin sneered. Sakura paid her no attention, and her hiss of indignation was disregarded as well.

She only had eyes for Sasuke, but this time, it was different. Her eyes were no longer the ones he remembered from so many years ago; now, they were dangerously similar to his—cold, hard, calculating.

He could find no trace of the Sakura he once knew in them. There was not even a trace of the Sakura he had met only days before.

Was she here to fight him? She certainly didn't look as if she meant to bring him back—not with eyes like that.

_It frightened him_.

He was unwillingly to admit, but seeing Sakura so cold unnerved him and chilled his blood like nothing had before. He was too used to seeing her happy

_his little cherry girl with eyes that spoke promises and lips that gave dreams_

that seeing her anything but was almost cruel, as if something essential to her being had been taken away—it was the knowledge that _he_ was the one who had destroyed her that saddened him the most of all. He kept his face carefully blank

_--because one false move and everything will come crashing down _

_Eyes, eyes are the windows to the soul_

When Karin's insults and Suigetsu's wisecracks had died down, silence reigned once more. Sakura hadn't said anything, and neither had Sasuke. They just stared at each other, lost in their own world of broken dreams and lies.

He found it ironic that he couldn't take it, this silence. Void of her usual tinkle, he felt emptier than he had ever felt before, as if he were the last man alive with the ground cracking fissures at his feet.

"What are you doing here?" It was the familiar question that sounded like a statement.

"I was just passing through," she replied quietly, not attacking nor defending.

His eyes narrow, his mouth tightens. _He doesn't like this_. This isn't Sakura.

Where was the girl who chased after him, professing her love like fragile butterflies and staring at him as if he meant the world to her? Where were her promises and threats to take him home, home to the shouts of Naruto and the smile of Kakashi, to the sound of her chatter?

He took a step forward but her next words stopped him.

"I think we're done here, so if you'll excuse me." She turned and flashed away, disappearing within a blink of the eye.

This was too strange for him to comprehend; before, when they had met, she would always spout some nonsense about loyalty and friendship, but this time, she hadn't even tried to ask him to come back. It was as if she was running from him.

It was as if she had given up.

_On him._

Barely a half second later, he followed, leaving behind Karin's questioning shouts and Suigetsu's exclamation of surprise and Juugo's understanding stare.

_He had the desperate feeling that this time, should he let her leave, things would pass the point of no return._

Almost as if they had arranged it, both stopped short in a secluded clearing a comfortable distance away from the others.

"What do you want?" she said without preamble.

He remained silent, still unused to this version of Sakura.

"You followed me. There must have been a reason."

"What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" she seemed to almost smile, but it was a brittle attempt.

"This isn't like you," he began, before he realized it sounded hauntingly familiar.

Sakura seemed to think so as well, for her lips curved into a mocking smirk. "And how would you know?"

"I knew you," he said firmly, unwilling to back down even when knowing that what he said was ridiculous and bore no weight.

"_Knew_, Sasuke. And that was a long time ago. People change." _As you know all too well._ Silence and unspoken accusations hung between them, charging the air with tension.

_But you shouldn't have changed._ The thought flashed through his mind before he could stop it, and as much as he tried, he could not deny it. He had always thought Sakura would be a constant in his life, even when he left her behind. He had dreams that one day, he could go back to Konoha and the little pink-haired girl who always always _always_ welcomed him would do so once again.

"Not going to ask me to go back? Given up, have we?" His false bravado sounded flimsy even to him and his normal cocky pose reminded him of a shield. He was grasping at straws, he knew—and he feared her answer.

She merely snorted. "My life has long since stopped revolving around you, Sasuke." There it was again, his name but without the suffix, meaning it wasn't really his name at all. "You have my replacement, and we have yours."

Sasuke barely repressed a flinch. She was talking about Karin, he realized, and Sai. His own substitute that eerily resembled him, pale skin and all.

And all of a sudden, he was angry because didn't she know, didn't she _understand_? He had picked the members of Team Hawk because of their resemblance to his former team, but without the naivety and innocence—he hadn't wanted to stain that. Even after he had left, he couldn't rid himself of them completely. He craved them, but he knew he couldn't bring them down to his level. And so he had chosen them based on his selfish desire for even a bit of Team Seven to remain with him.

It allowed him his guilty pleasure of pretending sometimes that he was back in Konoha with Team Seven, that he was still a decent person deep down, buried beneath vengeance and denial.

How can she not see what she means to him? He would not have given Karin a passing glance if she had not had the same brightly colored hair and love for him that a certain kunoichi had.

_he found himself looking at red but seeing pink. _

Not noticing his anger and inner struggle, Sakura turned and began to walk away again. "If that is all, then I really should be getting back—"

She started as Sasuke stood in front of her, holding her by the shoulders even as his eyes swirled red in his anger, muscles standing out as he controlled himself so he wouldn't accidentally crush her.

Karin could never be a replacement. She had nothing on the original—Sakura was irreplaceable.

_Why don't you understand?_

"What do you—" He cut her off again as a low growl rose from his throat, subduing her into silence.

He didn't know what was wrong with him. It was so unlike him to lose control, even this little bit. When he first followed her into the clearing, he had no intention of letting slip his confession, but that uneasy feeling of impending loss remained

_now that he was here, now that he was this close, he hoped to get her back. _

The irony of their role reversal didn't escape him.

When she was chasing him down to drag him back to Konoha, things were normal. He could take all her angry insults and tearful shouts, he could handle the hurt brimming in her eyes and the broken dreams falling from her lips. He didn't like it, but he could handle it.

Emotion was good. Emotion meant she still cared enough to feel something—anything—for him. But this…this apathy was far too similar to his own for him to like it. He didn't want her to turn into the same hateful and cold being he had become.

Sakura deserved anything but that. A smile belonged on her face, a light in her eyes. He wanted the old Sakura back, and if he had to swallow his pride to do it, he would.

_After all, it was his fault she had become this way_

Sasuke silenced the cold voice in his heart that told him he was afraid she had stopped loving him.

He didn't say anything—couldn't say anything. He hoped that Sakura still loved him enough that she could understand what he left unvoiced, just like she could all those years ago.

And she did. She saw in his eyes his need for her to understand, his guilt, and his sorrow. Anger still remained, but it was diluted with anguish and want.

Mesmerized by his eyes, Sakura caught herself relaxing. She tensed again and braced her hands on his chest, trying to push him away. He had caused her enough pain, even when he was gone. She didn't need these mixed messages from him, too.

Sakura glared at him hotly. "Let go!" She tried to break his hold on her, but it was useless. Even when trying not to hurt her, his grip was firm enough that she could never hope to force him off.

"Sakura…" his voice was a low growl, barely audible even to her. Was that remorse in his voice?

"I didn't replace you."

Sakura blinked. This was not what she expected. Her hands faltered from where they were trying to pull Sasuke's off and her curses died in her throat.

"Can't you see? Can't you see why I picked them?" Sasuke shook her gently at her blank stare. This was the girl who was ranked the smartest in their academy days; why couldn't she understand something as simple as this?

_I need you to understand pleasepleaseplease_

Eventually, it sank in. He saw knowledge dawning in her eyes, and then questions, burning into him, seeking answers.

She understood that Team Hawk was meant to mimic Team Seven, but she didn't understand why.

"I didn't replace you," he repeated. This was all the answer he was going to give. Much as he needed for Sakura to realize his reasons, he was severely lacking in the sentimentality department; this was the best he could offer.

_He needed her to not hate him._

From the look in her eyes, it was enough. Her eyes were softening against her will and a slightly awed expression glinted in her jewel green eyes. Then, as quickly as it had come, it was gone again. Sasuke deflated as the girl before him stared at him defiantly, raising her chin and her mouth thinning into a sharp line.

He always needed to be reminded that this Sakura was a very different one from the Sakura he had left in Konoha. She had grown stronger and no longer did she hang on to his every word. She had stopped believing in meaningless words of comfort and instead relied on cold, hard facts and strength. It seemed that this Sakura would not trust him so easily, and he had no one to thank for it but himself. She had given him her trust over and over again, and he pushed it back in her face just as easily. It seemed she had finally grown tired of the game.

These thoughts clouded his mind, though he reassured himself with the fact that Sakura wasn't exactly fighting him off now. Physically, at least.

"You don't believe me," he stated flatly. His voice was a little too flat, Sakura noted. It belied his apparent calm. He was more upset by this than he let on, and she had an uneasy feeling as to why.

_Stop it, stop doing this again. _

_Stop running me in circles. I want to love you, I really did, I really do. I still love you but please please please stop making me love you. _

_Stop making me believe you love me if you don't._

"It's hard to believe someone like you, Sasuke," she whispered back. She didn't say it cruelly, but it had the same effect, all the same. He reared back a little, but he's Sasuke and he doesn't know the meaning of giving up.

Sakura stared nervously as Sasuke steeled himself and determination crept back into his eyes. He was planning something and she was not going to like it.

Even as he bent forward, he was surprised by himself. To lose control to this extent was unheard of, and yet, he couldn't stop. The nagging feeling remained, telling him this was his last chance—he could think of no other way

_to make her understand_

Without warning, he tilted her forward and his mouth claimed hers. Despite the force with which he initiated the kiss, it grew achingly gentle. Only their lips and hands touched, as if he was afraid to want more.

Stunned, Sakura forgot all about showing Sasuke his own brand of indifference. Nothing else remained but the here and now, thoughts fleeting through her head. Among them, she thought that Sasuke was a surprisingly good kisser for someone who's first and only kiss had been Naruto. She could feel him hesitate, waiting for her permission or her rejection.

She made him wait (after all, he had made her wait all too often) and purposely did nothing. She was tempted, so tempted to just break it off here, to show him the kind of pain that resided in her.

But she couldn't—even now, she could never inflict that kind of pain on Sasuke, pain that she knew firsthand. Sasuke had counted on her being the better of them, like she always had been, and that held true still.

And still, she loved him. Eventually, she returned the kiss, and with it, her feelings.

Breaking apart, his onyx eyes burned with a light she had never seen before, reminding her of stars winking from the clutches of the night. Her own eyes blinked confusion and contentment at him. It would have been funny had she not been in such a state of emotional turmoil.

"Now do you believe?"

She started at the sound of his voice, huskier than usual and as gentle as it would ever be

_for now_

_--did she believe? _

And she did (because she was Sakura) because there was no lie in that kiss; it was nothing but pure, raw, honesty.

She nodded, though she needn't have bothered. People have always said she wore her emotions too clearly in her eyes, and while she had gotten better since he left, in the wake of such raw emotion, he could see everything in them.

And he understood.

Somewhere during the kiss, Sasuke had pressed her against the trunk of a tree, and she was now leaning against it while Sasuke hovered above her, arms braced on either side of her head.

Slowly, her lips curved into a small smile, and while it was nothing compared to her usual blinding beams, he would take what he could get.

Sasuke's own smirk softened into a true half-grin as they finally came to a shaky understanding.

* * *

Hours later, they meet again, and this time they were sitting side by side, close but not touching, at the base of that same tree.

It was an unplanned meeting, and Sakura was, mildly put, surprised. She had been sitting there, thinking over the whirlwind of recent events, when a sudden chakra signature erupted right next to her. She didn't even have time to be startled before she recognized Sasuke's arm reach around her, calming her instantly.

He had come without Hawk in tow, and while she wanted to ask how he'd managed that, she didn't want to ruin the atmosphere of tentative peace and acceptance they seemed to have reached. Besides, with Sasuke, time was always necessary.

They had come far, but the road ahead was even farther. But still, they could afford to rest a bit for now.

A companionable silence passed, both of them still barely touching. Things had changed too much for Sakura to immediately accept him again, and he knows this.

As much as she loves him, she's no longer the foolish little girl who threw logic and reason to the wind. He knows and tries to make amends; a few silences later, his arm is wrapped loosely around her waist.

"Shouldn't you be heading back?" Sakura murmured reluctantly, leaning her head on Sasuke's shoulder. He in turn looked at her, lips twitching up at the corner against his will. Instead of trying to talk him around, she was now telling him to go back. Funny how things worked, sometimes.

"It's fine. Besides, they won't be waking up for a while." He couldn't fight off the satisfied smirk. Sakura looked up at him incredulously.

"Never mind, I don't want to know."

A comfortable silence passed, broken when Sakura spoke again.

"You…really want to kill Itachi, huh?"

Silence was her answer, but she knew what it meant. She understood him best, after all.

"It's ok. It's just one of those things that has to be done, right?" Sakura noticed with dismay that, try as she might, she couldn't stop the hint of bitterness that leaked through.

Sasuke looked almost saddened, but he didn't say anything. He didn't need to. They both knew he wouldn't go back until he had accomplished this. It was the same for all of them. The arm around her tightened in consolation, giving her what he couldn't in words.

For now, it was enough.

"But you'll come back once it's done, right?"

_Because no matter what, you'll always have a place in my heart_

They were not looking at each other now, but at the dimming sky with stars peeking out like promises made in the night.

"Perhaps." And it was the truth.

Together, they sat and watched the sun set, promising things to come.

**&fin.**

* * *

Wow. That was so much angst. But it's Sasuke and Sakura, and they're like…angst magnets. Sorry if you think I overdid it, but they have such angst potential that I couldn't resist. (Angst. Angst. Angst.) I also fail at writing action scenes.

I have a happier SasuSaku coming up next, so hopefully that makes it up?

(Heehee, Word thought I meant 'sausage' when I typed SasuSaku. I don't know why I find it so funny but I do. God, I'm a dork.)

Oh and this might or might not have a sequel. I'm undecided as of now. Comments are welcome.

Reviews make Mizu a happy Kenshi~


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